Christmas v2
by keemew2
Summary: Revamped version of my first GWing fic with slight changes herethere. Relena hosts a Christmas party for delegates but strangley two pilots, 01&05 show upas bodygaurds.Relena begins to avoid them butthey aren't the only surprise ofthe eveni
1. Quatre

k2: Here, it is! The revamped, revised version of Christmas! The first chapter all for you to read!

MK: It's got goodies galore! Longer for one.

k2: Oh, big time longer! About….twice as long I think. More detail, Quatre's empathy at work….stuff like that. And I tried to make the characters more real too.

MK: So, without further ado…!

k2: The fic is yours to read.

**111break111**

Christmas

CH.1- Quatre

Rated: G

**111break111**

Quatre watched the milling crowd before him from his position at the punch bowl, his cup in hand. It was a festive party and celebrated perfectly what Christmas was all about. Quatre, though, couldn't help but note how inappropriate it was for him to be there, theologically speaking. But he personally wasn't a real avid practitioner of his own faith, if one could call it _his_ faith. He may have been born into it but as said, he wasn't a real practitioner. So it probably didn't matter much as a result. Did it?

Besides, Relena had invited a lot of people, including himself, and it was the biggest social event this year. Anybody who was anybody was here on a whim, unless they were required to be here. Like he himself. And it was flat out boring.

He hated these kind of social gatherings. But as one of the riches people on earth and the colonies, he was obligated to attend, especially with all his responsibilities as head of the Winner foundation and... well, we won't go into that right now. The point was, he was bored stiff.

"Having fun?" a happily familiar voice stated close by. Quatre turned slightly to see Wufei getting some punch, an amused smirk on his face.

"Oh, hi Wufei." Quatre said with a smile.

"Hello." The other replied politely "Have you danced yet?"

"Yeah, a couple of times." Quatre replied, glad to see Wufei in decant spirits considering his reason for being here. Though the underlying reason for that, Quatre was sure, was a certain older blond Chinese woman.

"Have you by chance seen that woman?" He asked suddenly, catching Quatre off guard and deep in thought.

"No, why?" Quatre replied immediately, knowing exactly which woman he meant. In his personal opinion, Quatre felt Wufei could have just a touch more respect for her. But then Quatre realized what he meant. He'd lost her.

"That woman we were 'assigned' to protect tonight seems to be doing the opposite of her usual tactics."

_Usual tactics_ Quatre thought as he cocked his head slightly. He had an idea of what he meant, but was unsure exactly. After all, the incident had been a mutual affair and they tended to do that to each other quite often.

Wufei's brief amusement had turned into irritation, probably at thinking about what this could entail.

"Another words…?" Quatre asked to be safe, more or less hoping that he was wrong in his assumptions.

"She is actually avoiding Hiiro."

"Oh." Quatre kept the resigned sigh from escaping him and thought briefly upon their conversation only a few minutes ago when he'd seen her. She had seemed…reluctant of something. He had sensed underlying tones of…well, of distress for some reason. Something was upsetting her a great deal and he wasn't sure why. There were so many people he was unable to pinpoint anything that would be useful to Wufei…. "Well, I was talking to her fifteen minutes ago." Quatre replied, "She walked in that direction." And he found himself pointing out where he believed was the last place he'd seen her.

"Thank you." Wufei replied as he walked off.

Quatre smiled slightly as he watched Wufei go. Even if it was under duress, Quatre was glad to have at least one friend there, aside from Relena (who was busy playing hostess) and Hiiro. And it was nice to have him as a friend, even if Wufei had a hard time showing his appreciation for that 'friendship'. Then again...Wufei had a hard time with people in general and his reasoning were more then justified in Quatre's opinion. He understood Wufei's pain, understood the difficulty of allowing himself a release.

Turning his thoughts back to the situation involving Relena, Quatre began to wonder. Was it possible that her hidden feelings involved Hiiro in some way, thus the reason she was avoiding him? Quatre knew, though no one else knew he knew, that the only reason Wufei was hear today was because Hiiro must have asked him. And Quatre knew for a fact that Hiiro wanted to be close to Relena. He knew, even if they didn't know, how much they cared for each other and, in Relena's case, how much she loved him. Hiiro, though, was more complicated then that. Quatre remembered two years ago, back when they were fighting the war. He remembered when he and Hiiro had been captured shortly after Trowa's apparent death. When Hiiro attempted the Wing Zero Gundam. Quatre remembered the warmth he felt when he touched the unconscious boy, the warmth that went along with deep emotion. As much as Hiiro wasn't supposed to have emotion Quatre was sure able to feel it. (And of course, with as cynical as Hiiro tended to be there was no doubt that he was far from emotionless.)

Quatre began to look around the room, seeing if he could spot Relena and wondering if Wufei had found her yet. But there was no sign of her within the milling crowd, and there were to many people for him to sense out just one person.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of long blond hair of about calf length. Turning his head back, he saw her. Dorothy. Dorothy Catalonia. Her hair held in its usual black headband, appearing to be her trademark. Well, besides those eyebrows of course.

Quatre smiled to himself at the thought of those elegant monstrosities. But what really caught his eye was her attire. She wore a long form fitting white gown that delicately hugged her waist and floated down to her feet in a cascade. It had a low neck line hugging her chest with the right amount of cleavage accentuated and sleeves that looked like they were put on as an after thought (which also happened to fall off the shoulders). A choker adorned her slender neck. She had white gloves on that reached the elbows.

Quatre gasped at the sight of her, stunned by the beauty in which she appeared. Usually she wore a skirt and a blouse on occasions like this, not being one to dress up or anything. Part of him actually wanted to ask her to dance while another said run the other direction. Past experience just screamed that one out.

And then there was a very small part of him, the part he tries to hide, the part of him that he wars with at every turn ever since he first found the zero system…that part wanted to kill her very quickly. Very efficiently. And he self-consciously rubbed the area where his scar still resided.

Quatre took that moment as a sign to leave, so without further ado he walked over to the open double doors that lead to the balcony. As he exited the ballroom the frigid air hit him in a crystal calm that sent a shiver down his body. A shiver that helped him relax as the coolness helped clear his head.

Dorothy Catalonia. She was an odd woman, one Quatre found to be an enigma, so to speak. But one that he knew a little too well. He knew about her pain, why she was the way she was. He had seen it, two years ago at he end of the war. An image of a small child, crying over a tombstone, still haunted his dreams late at night when the pain of his own father's death was hitting him hard.

And that was only one of the many reasons he wanted to avoid her tonight, the other being her bad habit. A habit, whether she knew it or not, to drive him insane. Quatre, lately, had to suffer all kinds of business meetings with her. She had rebuilt her grandfathers organization from scratch, changing most of their policies and even branching off into separate categories. In fact, she had appeared to be modeling the Winner Foundation and with those changes he found himself working, more and more, with the older woman. And lately every time he saw her he felt the same urges. The ones he experienced tonight in wanting to run from her, to hide until it was safe, and the ones to kill her, though not always so quickly. It was an aggressiveness that always brought guilt to him, one that made him want to crawl under a rock and die just for thinking about. Every life was precious, that was something he firmly believed in, something he had always believed in. Something the war had strengthened in him. It was a resolve he vowed never to break, that he would never kill again. A blood oath on his fathers, and his mothers, graves.

But his mind always went numb around her and his gut clenched, tightening like a vice. He wanted to wrap his hands around her throat sometimes and squeeze until there was nothing left. But yet, that was more an underlying emotion that he couldn't get past. It's as if it was blocking something more, something important. His gut clenching wasn't out of irritation or anger, but an urge he was unable to decipher. In fact, it was almost similar to the urges he had felt for Trowa during the war.

Quatre took a calming breath and looked out over the garden, at the soft blanket of white snow that was draped over it surreptitiously. In fact, the only thing there to mar the surreality of the scene, was the couple kissing in the snow. Something that just added that much more reality to the otherwise perfect sight. Quatre hadn't noticed them at first, being to absorbed in calming his emotions, and figured they had just arrived. The snowscape around them made their shared bliss all the more romantic to the casual onlooker, but Quatre wasn't the casual onlooker and he felt surprise, then anger, flaring from that direction.

As it was the couple looked quite familiar to him. It was dark and all he could really see were silhouettes, but he managed to see the out line of a girl with a high ponytail. And it was that observation that preceded his surprise when the girl stepped back and suddenly slapped the man kissing her, turned on her heel, and ran off into the moonlit garden, the heavy long coat she wore trailing as she fled.

The man stared after her for a moment and Quatre felt uncertainty cross his thoughts. However, when he turned back towards the mansion and twin pools of Prussian blue sparkled in the moonlight, Quatre was stunned.

"Hiiro?" Quatre questioned. _What is Hiiro doing out here, with another woman no less!_ His thoughts questioned him but he had no answer. But perhaps… perhaps this was the reason that Relena was avoiding Hiiro in the first place, that perhaps Hiiro had moved on? But…that made no sense. None in the least. Not after everything-.

A noise behind Quatre startled him out of the trance he had placed himself and, without waiting to see what it was Hiiro was to do next, turned an irritated glance at the trespasser. He was startled to find Dorothy stepping out, blocking the entrance in the process. Something, Quatre could only assume, she did on purpose. Especially since she had that look in her eye, that one that always made Quatre want to run. The one that appeared to be a predatory gleam as she approached her prey.

And Quatre's senses went haywire.

"Hello Mr. Winner." She said politely

"Uhh, hello Ms. Dorothy." He replied just as politely. He could sense the deep satisfaction that welled up within her. She knew, as well as he knew she knew, that her presence made him uncomfortable. She enjoyed toying with him and he had a hunch it was because he was the only one who ever managed to understand her, to throw her off when she was taunting. The only prey to manage an upper hand….

Yet beneath that satisfaction Quatre also found a strange sort of sadness, a deep longing that made the pit of his stomach lurch and want to reach out to her.

A feeling that only tightened his groin as she began to slowly approach him.

But not him. The balcony really. She stood next to him, looked past him, and out across the garden.

"It's a beautiful night, is it not?" She said softly, that deep longing seemingly getting deeper.

"Yes, it is." Quatre kept himself calm outwardly, and collected. It was hard to know what someone was feeling, hard to keep a specific person tuned _in_ to _catch_ what they were feeling. But when and where Dorothy was concerned, Quatre didn't care _how_ strenuous it got, nor did he ever want to show any sign of the intrusions he made. That was one thing she did not know and the one thing he did not _want_ her to know. If she knew he could sense her feelings she would close them off to him and he would never know when she was ready to pounce or throw a curve. This was the only thing that kept her from getting to far ahead of him. And the only thing that kept him from fearing her presence every time she appeared.

_But what is it about her that makes me feel this way?_

"I have a question."

"What?" Quatre was rather startled. The suddenness of her proclamation was stunning. He sensed nothing of what she was about, other then that deep longing. A longing Quatre wanted to erase from her mind.

"What do you think of love?" she asked in a tone that was more or less asking herself. It had been so quiet Quatre almost missed it.

"Love?" he repeated.

"Yes, love."

"I have no opinion on love." Quatre replied, "I don't understand it yet." His response wasn't altogether true; he had felt something akin to love before, or what he had thought was love. He had never felt that way about anyone before and had found himself wanting to be near him always. He had a strange sort of connection to that person that went beyond mere friendship. It was an emotion he still felt to this day. One he was sure would never die or diminish, and yet one that could never be acted upon. His life was to critical, to chaotic for one such as him to become involved and Quatre didn't want his best friend to suffer more then he already had.

"I mean, I could give someone advice," Quatre continued, "but…it's not exactly something I myself could distinguish."

_And yet…and yet…._

And yet it as if he were lying and not just about his feelings towards Trowa.

"Neither do I really." Dorothy murmured, "I only understand that when you really want something it's best to just go for it."

Quatre cocked his head slightly, looking at her. "What do you mean?"

"This." She swiftly turned and kissed Quatre. It was a swift movement, enough to catch him off guard, which was a pretty clear accomplishment considering his side occupation. In fact, it startled him enough to let it last long enough for _her_ to brake the kiss. When she pulled her head away, Quatre stared at her; Unable to say a single word. She stared at him with her gray blue eyes, a soft affectionate stare that burned into Quatre and forced that same deep longing on him. Her hand rose deftly and she lightly brushed his cheek. A slow movement that sent a chill down his body, threatening to explode out from him.

And then she left.

Quatre was to stunned to do anything. To shocked to say anything. He just watched her walk off and his ears began to ring. Or at least he had thought it was ringing. But the sound grew louder and he realized with a cold fear that it was a scream coming from the direction the girl had run off to.

Quatre turned and looked out over the balcony, scanning the darkness with his eyes, sending out a feeler of empathy.

_Too far._ With out thinking Quatre jumped off the balcony, landing hard on the ground. Without missing a beat he got up and ran off in the direction of the scream.

**111break111**

k2: So…? Is it better? And how much better is it? Will I actually get more then two or so reviews?

MK: Someone just review before she has a stroke!


	2. Assasine

k2: Here it is! Chapie 2 along with chapie 1! Course, all there was were two chap's anyway. But that isn't the point!

MK: As before there are two different POV's.

k2: Not to mention the annoying trait of it being, well…past present and futurish.

MK: In other words this happened before Quatre's incident with Dorothy, during the incident, and after the incident. And don't forget that this ties into Blind Valentine and G-Wing Gen., helping to add some sense in some areas.

k2: Actually it was created before those two, there for it is not a tie in. It is the beginning.

MK: Whatever.

k2: Basically…same as before in all areas except one.

MK: It's a lot better.

k2: (adopts anime style of spread legs, feet placed firmly, and hand flying into air with the victory sign) YES! "o"

MK: ;;

Christmas

CH.2- The Assassin

Rated: G

"Pargan, Hurry!" Relena stated as she rushed around the room, preparing for the nights festivities. "The guest will be arriving shortly. Where are the other's?"

"They are in the Ballroom getting everything ready, Miss Relena." Pargan said carrying a tray of hors d'oeuvres.

"Oh, right." She replied as she remembered that was where she had sent them.

DING! DONG! DING!

"I'll get it Pargan, you take that stuff into the ballroom. It's probably the guards my brother sent over for tonight."

"Yes miss."

Relena hurried over to the door, slightly wondering why it was she needed guards at all during a Christmas party, and opened it, paling at the site before her.

"H-Hiiro." She murmured as the said young man stared at her with his impassive Prussian eyes. Unnoticed by the startled young woman Wufei glanced from her to Hiiro, wondering if Hiiro was actually supposed to be on guard detail or not. Or if the 'guard detail' was just another ruse brought about by him and Zech's.

"What are you doing here?" Relena demanded softly, still stunned.

"Lady Une sent us." Wufei lied, "We were assigned to watch you tonight." He knew, as well as she did, that no one assigned either him or Hiiro to any actual duties. Their obligation to the Preventers was purely for emergencies that only they, as a team with the rest of Preventer five, could handle. An obligation stemming from their need of its resources for such situations. Of course, that didn't stop Wufei from getting actively involved when Sally decided to become an active field medic.

"Oh." Relena replied, accepting that it was the only answer she'd get.

"You shouldn't be getting the door." Hiiro stated, "You never know who could be at call."

Relena looked at Hiiro, not saying anything, then opened the door wider. After allowing them entrance she stared a moment longer, then she ran off.

"Where are you going?" Wufei asked quickly.

"I still have to get ready!" she replied over her shoulder

Wufei looked at his comrade, uncertain of what had just transpired. "Strange Yui. I don't think she likes that we are here. What did you get me into this time?"

Hiiro didn't respond; just stared at her retreating figure, pulling on his collar.

Relena sat down on her bed gracelessly. How would she possibly get through tonight now? How could she go out there, play hostess to a bunch of stuck up egotists and avoid Hiiro when he's her bodyguard?

And just how did he con his way into getting that position anyway? Last she checked Hiiro was off on another of his many nameless excursions, isolating himself from the rest of the world and…her.

She got the feeling that Hiiro didn't like her anymore, if at all, and if that were true, she wanted to stay away from him as much as possible. He stirred up all sorts of feelings in her, feelings that made her burst with joy and wishing to sing of love abounding and joyous futures! He made her want to reach out to him in ways she could only imagine and ways she couldn't _even_ imagine.

But she didn't want those feelings if he didn't return the affection. She didn't want be the only one expressing herself, embarrassing herself, for some childish dream that would never come true! And she didn't want to force anything on him either. She knew it was love, true love, which plagued her. A love that she had slowly become aware of since that last battle during the war. Since that last incident with Mariamaia. She knew what it was but if it was unrequited then….

_I guess he thinks I'm to annoying._ She thought despairingly,_ And he's a right to. I have done nothing but pester him since we first met._ She pulled her legs up to her chest, swiveling around so she could sit with her head buried in her arms._ But I do love him. Maybe I should just avoid him as much as possible tonight_. She looked up and over towards her wardrobe, her mind elsewhere. Wufei and Hiiro both hadn't worn a uniform, more of an undercover scenario she surmised. And a slow grin spread across her face. _Boy, he sure looks good in a tux._

Getting off the bed she hurried to the wardrobe and got out a dress. She still had a job to do tonight, and Hiiro's presence here could not keep her from her duties as a hostess.

Hiiro scanned his surroundings, observing in detail any possible threat. Or at least, that was the facade he put up. The truth ran much deeper then he was willing to blatantly admit. In fact, no one knew he and Wufei were here other then the two of them, Relena, and Zech's. Zech's. Relena's brother. A man full of confusion about the world and the workings of reality. A man walking a fine line between sanity and insanity.

Hiiro smirked inwardly. He had noticed two things about Zech's that kept his mind from the abyss that threatened him during the war. Two people, actually. And that man had charged Hiiro, trusted him to do the job effectively, to watch over one of those two people. His baby sister, the last living member of his family.

It was, actually, a ploy really. Everything Hiiro did was a ploy for something else. Whether or not anyone knew that didn't matter, not to him anyway. Because not very many people knew him well enough. Only a significant number did and he knew how much he could trust them.

Hiiro glanced at Wufei. The Chinese man was standing with his arms crossed, watching the people entering and milling around the ballroom. He was putting on the same facade Hiiro was, trying to keep himself from looking bored at the same time, though every now and then his comrade would through him a dirty look. Yeah, Wufei was one of those who knew Hiiro well enough to understand the situation. And he definitely wasn't too happy about the fact.

Hiiro scanned the room once more, checking to see if Relena had come down yet, and saw a few people he whose demeanor screamed vultures. He despised people like them, wanting to get close to someone like Relena and feed off them. Rich snobs was only a polite description. People trying to outdo one another, scraping their way to the top. They were the type that felt that since Relena was so young she would be easy pickings, easily taken advantage of.

To bad for them. Hiiro smirked outwardly this time. People like them didn't know how headstrong the girl was, how strong minded and powerful she was when she needed to be. Relena, once the Queen of the world. Forever known as the princess of Cinq. And when she wasn't being annoying she was an amazing girl.

Hiiro turned to the ballroom entrance just in time to see another guest arrive, one in which his opinions of were quite high, as remarkable as that might sound. But the blond youth had something no one else in this room had. Hiiro's great respect.

As if sensing they were there Quatre Reberba Winner turned to look directly at them, something that made Hiiro's warning systems flare up, and smiled brightly. He began to walk toward them, excited.

"Hiiro! Wufei!" the young man cried happily as he approached. "What are you doing here? You even look good too."

At Quatre's blunt statement Hiiro glared and pulled at his collar again, wishing to be out of the monkey suit he had to wear to blend in. He also took that moment to note Quatre's attire, a more relaxed fit then Hiiro's. He wore a black velvet vest over a white shirt with a silver line at the trim. His pants were black as well. He was probably the most comfortable in the entire room.

_Lucky twerp._

"We were assigned to take care of that woman." Wufei stated the same lie as before.

"You mean Miss. Relena?" Quatre asked with a delicate smile.

"Yes."

"Mr. Winner!" A short fat dignitary exclaimed, bee lining for their vicinity. At the sight of him Quatre's face fell and grew slightly dark, but only for a moment as his business face then replaced it. "I see you have finally arrived." The man continued, "Tell me, how are your business's going? And how are your lovely sisters? Have you had a chance to get in touch with the three in the outer quadrants yet? It must be arduous work living in those dingy space bases, whatever their jobs entail."

Quatre, a slight grimace on his face shook his head. Giving a quick look of reluctance to his two comrades, as well as a look of mock desperation, he followed the man away with a smile. It wouldn't due to get Hiiro and Wufei involved if they were 'protecting' Relena.

Hiiro and Wufei exchanged looks and Wufei shook his head in a mixture of admiration and pity.

"How that blond playboy can keep up with all these vultures is beyond me." He murmured, "If I were the one to deal with them they would be on the floor clutching their throats."

"As well as a good throttle would do them, Quatre was raised to know better." Hiiro stated, "Growing up in a society where respect depends on how powerful financially you are, and how well your business ethics can disrupt the power of others…I am still amazed at how Quatre managed to turn out."

"He's no Treize, that's for sure."

Hiiro turned to look at the stairs once more and his eyes caught sight of her, startling him just a fraction, as she seemed to appear out of thin air. Standing in the middle of the stairs, holding onto the banister, was Relena, scanning the milling crowd and observing the turnout of her social ball. She wore a soft pink gown that flared only a touch as it reached her ankles, showing an elegant pair of black shoes with just a hint of heel. The neck was a semi low square, showing just a hint of cleavage with sleeves reaching the ends of her shoulders in a flowery wave. A pair of white wrist gloves adorned her hands and delicate diamond earrings decorated her ears. She wore no makeup and her hair was done in a slightly messed French twist, almost as if she had done it herself.

She looked the picture of social purity in a world of snobs. Hiiro watched as she descended the stairs regally, nodding to people ever so often. She never once looked in his direction, choosing instead to ignore him as much as possible. Something Hiiro found, strangely, irritating. Didn't she care why he as here? He had come willingly, and under a distinct lie. She knew he wasn't here to act as a bodyguard, so why isn't she asking him anything? Why isn't she even looking at him the way she usually would?

Hiiro, irritated with himself and her, attempted several times to get close to her so he could talk. But every time he did she somehow got engaged with someone else for some other reason. She kept a constant motion, talking to people at every turn and dancing every now and then.

Then, finally, after talking briefly with Quatre, she managed to slip out of the room undetected, irritated at how much she had to do just to get away from him.

_How am I supposed to avoid Hiiro if he keeps hawk eyes trained on me at every turn? It's almost as if he's trying to get close on purpose! _She cried to herself. But she knew that couldn't be right, Hiiro made it a common practice to avoid her unless she was in trouble. Maybe she had just gotten so good at 'stalking' him that she now did it even when trying to avoid him.

_I don't' think it works that way._ her mind argued with her. She absently nodded her own head in agreement to her more calm nature and swallowed a dry lump in her throat.

_I am in desperate need of some air._ She thought to herself after a moment. Walking over to a nearby closet she opened it and peeked it. Seeing it was a broom closet she looked around her surroundings, recognizing where she was. Opening another door a little farther away she took out a long brown heavy coat and looked at the name on the tag. _I do hope Maureen doesn't mind if I borrowed her coat._ She thought to herself as she put it on. Once she was done with that she took her hair out of the twist, putting it instead into a high ponytail. She looked around herself once then headed down the hall, taking a quick turn and hurrying down a short flight of steps that ended with a door at the bottom. She opened it and hurried out into the gardens, breathing in the night air.

Behind her the door opened again and Hiiro stepped out, intent on talking to her whether she wanted to or not. He didn't have the faintest idea what her problem was, or why she was so obviously avoiding him. But it was really beginning to get on his nerves. This was supposed to be a lot easier then this and he was still expecting to get a good response from her.

Seeing her sit down on a bench he began to walk up, but she caught sight of him and stood up again, surprised. Sensing what she was about to do Hiiro rushed over to her and grabbed her by the arm, keeping her from walking away.

"Where do you think you can go?" He asked her softly in his ever-monotonous voice, "This garden is only so big, unless you scale the wall. Why are you running from me?"

Relena bit her lip and her eyes began to shine with unshed tears at the sound of his voice. Unable to continue looking at him she turned her head away and replied.

"I-I know you don't care for me Hiiro." She said quietly, "I've been trying to avoid you because of that. I keep feeling things when I see you, I want to be with you but…I'm sorry Hiiro. That's why I always pester you. I know you don't feel the same way and that's why I was trying to avoid you tonight. I don't want you to feel obligated towards me."

Hiiro looked at her for a minute, unsure of what to say. He wasn't sure what he felt, truthfully. It had been 3 years since he used his human weaknesses, since they got taken away from him. Three years since he could remember anything of his past, anything from a life he had held so dear to himself. This was, in effect, the very thing he had wanted to talk to her about, but the outcome seemed to be different then what he had expected. His plan had fallen apart and he didn't know how to go about reforming it to fit the situation. He was, in effect, speechless.

So instead of words he did something he was going to kill himself for later. He took some advice he himself gave to someone. He acted on his emotions. What he felt at that very moment.

Relena felt him pull her towards him and when his lips touched hers she felt like she had died and gone to heaven. She didn't know what to think at first, but then her confusion got in the way. She just didn't understand him, was he playing with her emotions? He never seemed willing to do this before. It was too much. She broke the kiss, slapped Hiiro and ran off crying. How dare he just toy with her like that? She couldn't understand that boy. She doubted she ever would.

Confused, Hiiro stared after her. He made the wrong move, but at the same time it had been the only move he could make. How could he miscalculate the entire situation? Things weren't supposed to go this badly. Missions failed all the time, but this wasn't the same thing. This was more obvious. He knew what she wanted, what she needed. So why, then, did she slap him?

Hiiro turned to walk back inside, even managed to reach the door before he stopped. He glanced back the way he had come, unsure. He couldn't' just leave things hanging; he still had to talk to her. But if he did talk and she was just as unpredictable as before…how could he deal with that? Why was she being so…confusing to him? He had always been able to understand her before but….

Growling in irritation Hiiro turned back to the garden. Shaking his head he hurried after her.

At the end of the garden, near the wall blocking it away from the rest of the estate property, Relena leaned against it in slight despair, panting through her tears from her run. The wall seemed to signify the wall of a prison in which she felt trapped. There was no way out, unless she went back through the doors of the estate, but she refused to go back inside the building. Wiping the tears away from her face she slowly walked to a stone bench and flopped down, mentally berating herself for her stupidity. As she sat there she absently felt more of her warm tears make their way onto her cold face. She wiped them away quickly, knowing it wasn't good to cry when it was so cold out. Her breath made little white clouds in the air as she breathed and the ground around her, once beautiful and untouched was now marred by her footprints.

She sat there for a several seconds before her mind began to work. Before her brain started to berate her, demanding why she had to be so confusing, why she had to fall for a guy that was inhuman. And that was when she heard the noise. The crunching of snow as someone landed. Relena turned her head to see a man covered in black cloth staring back at her, a piece of black cloth in his hands. Judging by the surprised look on his face he hadn't expected to see her there after scaling the wall and she supposed the cloth in his hand was a mask of some sort.

Relena got up to run, but the man was quicker then her and had her by the hair, pulling her to him and covering her mouth before she could scream.

"Hold it right there girlie." He hissed, his dark eyes glimmering in the darkness. "Can't let you run off and warn anyone, now can I?" Relena struggled in his grasp and managed to move her face enough to get a few words out.

"Let me go!" she cried

"Can't." He stated, "I got a job to do and you saw me. Can't leave any witnesses."

Relena began to struggle again, but the man was to strong for her, managing to turn her around for a better grasp. But then, with a slight grunt, his grip loosened and he fell away from her. Turning around quickly Relena saw Hiiro standing, looking quite calm and collected, seemingly unconcerned by the whole affair.

Forgetting what she had said only minutes before Relena threw herself into Hiiro, crying. "Oh, thank you Hiiro!" She was surprised to feel his arms reach around and embrace her in return.

Then Hiiro released her, stepping away and over to the man on the ground who lay limp. As Hiiro reached down to grab the man his body moved suddenly, quickly, swinging his arm up and nailing Hiiro in the cheek. Hiiro staggered back, holding his face. He managed to gain his footing, avoiding a fall to the ground, and turned back to the man just as he pulled a knife out and lunged at Relena.

She screamed once, alerting any guards that may be close to trouble, and moved quickly out of the way as Hiiro collided with the man. They both fell to the ground, but Hiiro already had his gun out and, with an audible click, pointed it at the man.

"Freeze." Hiiro stated with deadly glint in his eyes.

The man froze; looking at them, then gave a heavy sigh. "Look." He stated, with his hands held up slightly, "I'm only after one Soc. If you let me get my target I'll let the both of you off without a single hair touch, okay?"

Hiiro frowned, not expecting that. However, the _man_ was expecting Hiiro's reaction to his words and took advantage of the slight confusion. He leapt up and to the side just enough so that when Hiiro shot the gun the bullet grazed right by him and grabbed Hiiro's arm, yanking it around so that the muscles were forced to loosen and Hiiro dropped the gun. Hiiro kicked backwards then forwards so quickly that the man was forced to the ground as his foot came out from under him. Hiiro had looped his leg around yanked the appendage, forcing the man to loose his balance. The man grabbed Hiiro's leg as he went down, taking the youth with him. They struggled for a moment, until the man managed to head-butt Hiiro, then stood up and grabbed Relena by the arm, spinning her around and holding her tightly to him. A knife came out from his sleeve and he held it pressed to her throat.

"This makes my job harder." He growled, "I have to take care of my target _and_ get rid of you two kids. Do you have any idea how annoying that will be?"

Click

The man froze, again hearing the safety go off on a gun.

"Will you please let the girl go?" A soft voice behind him asked, "I don't like to hurt people, but I don't like to see other people get hurt either. I suggest, for both our benefits, that you release her and step away very slowly."

Dropping his knife the man shook his head wearily and turned to look at the new roadblock. Upon seeing who it was he frowned and scratched his head. A movement that was well watched by the intense blue green eyes of owner of the gun.

"Another kid?" He asked bluntly, "Aren't there any _real_ guards around here?"

"I assure you sir, there are." The youth stated, "Unfortunately I was the only one to hear the young lady scream at the time. By the way, are you all right?" He asked without looking at her.

"Yes, Quatre." She murmured with a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

Startled by the use of his name informally Quatre turned to look at the woman he had just saved, even more startled to see Relena. "What are you doing out here Miss. Relena?" Quatre asked quickly, "You're supposed to be inside hosting this evening."

"Oh jeeze." The man groaned, "You mean to tell me _you're_ Relena Peacecraft?"

"Yes." Relena stated.

"Great. Just great." The man put his arms together when he said that, shaking his head in frustration. Quatre's eyes widened, as if some form of realization hit him, and he lifted the gun higher just as the man's arms parted, yet another dagger flying from him, aimed at Quatre. Having only seconds to react the blond, faintly hearing another scream from Relena, dodged, instinctively pulling the trigger at the same time. The dagger caught him in the side, grazing him, as he fell to the ground. Holding his side painfully he looked up in time to see the assassin also fall, a bullet hole in is chest.

"I'm sorry." Quatre murmured as blood began to leak through his pale fingers, laying his head on the cold snow. He hadn't wanted to kill anyone, but the man had given him no choice.

"Oh, Quatre." Relena gasped as she hurried over to the bleeding boy. She knelt beside him, helping him up, just as shouts were heard from the direction of the mansion and Relena's guards appeared shortly after with Wufei in tow.

"Miss. Relena!" One of them cried, "We heard a gun go off. Are you okay? What are you all doing out here?"

"What happened to Quatre?" Wufei demanded upon seeing the bleeding blond. "And who's that on the ground?"

"It's a long story." Relena replied, "I need help here. _He_ needs help. Please take him and leave me. I must speak with Mr. Yui alone."

"Yes Ma'am." The guards knew better then to argue with her and they all knew who Hiiro was, even though they were confused as to why he was here. As they left Wufei stood where he was, glancing from one to the other, then finally spoke.

"Yui, this is the last time I let you talk me into this." Then he walked away leaving Hiiro and Relena by themselves.

Relena turned to look back at Hiiro, unsure what to say at first. But the way he just stood there, looking at her, gave her an idea.

"Thank you." she stated, "I'm glad you came back for me."

"I'm sorry if I offended you." His words so unexpected that Relena stepped back.

"Offended me?" She asked, "You mean the kiss?" She saw Hiiro nod lowered her eyes. "You didn't offend me. But you did confuse me." She looked up at him again, a fire in her eyes. "Are you playing with my emotions?" She demanded, "Or do you genuinely feel something towards me?"

Hiiro stared at her for a moment, choosing his words carefully. This was what he had wanted to talk to her about all right, but not quite the way he had intended.

After a long pause he finally shook his head. "I don't know."

"What?" her words held a note of desperate laugh, confused even more.

"I think I do." He continued, uncertain.

Relena stared at him. That was all she could do. She couldn't turn away, couldn't cry. She couldn't even get mad, though she really wanted to. His words, the one that said 'I think I do' gave her a slight hope she dared not dash. She clung to it, wanting to hear more.

Recognizing her silence Hiiro went on, continuing. "It isn't you. It's me." Relena wanted to cringed. Those words sounded wrong, like he was trying to break up with her. A redundant feeling considering they weren't even together. "I can't express emotions very well." Hiiro stated after that.

"Why?" Relena found herself asking

"Doctor J." Hiiro replied, "He did something to me, to make me who I am. The perfect soldier."

Relena's eyes widened. "Oh."

"I do know one thing though." Hiiro stated

"What?"

"I want to be near you." Her heart leapt. "I don't want you to get hurt, but I want to be near you. That was what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh, Hiiro." Relena flung herself on him again, this time for more then just comfort. It was for joy, for love. "I hope you can get things figured out." She murmured, "I will help you with it, I promise."

"Thank you." He hugged her back, then felt Relena loosen her grasp.

"Hiiro, I still have a dead man in my garden. "

k2: So, how do you guys like it? Is it better then the first version?

MK: Does it still reek stupidity like last time?

K2: Kit…!"

MK: Hey, you're the one who said it was crappy from the beginning.

k2: Anyway, please review this for me. It will be the only way I can tell if it was better or not. Thank you.


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